Beware the Kindly Stranger — Clarissa Ross

PATRON OF EVIL.

Who was Mr. Asmodeus? He came into Marie's life when least expected... and left without being seen by others. What strange powers did he control? Marie Holt's fiance Hugh hinted darkly at the old man's "illegal" past, but Marie knew him only as a kindly white-haired stranger -- a patron of the arts who had offered to recoup the losses of her failing art gallery. She could not refuse his generosity, and when he had proven his honorable intentions, she could not refuse the hospitality of his Long Island mansion. But what did Mr. Asmodeus want in return? And more important -- why couldn't Marie ask him this question? The mansion was a house of many mysteries -- though soon it was to provide her with horrifying answers! There was a motive for the old man's kindness -- and Marie knew that she had to escape! Not from the house, but from terror beyond: a nightmare that threatened her soul!

TERROR FROM THE SEA…

A chill went through Marie as Mr. Asmodeus, his burning eyes fixed on the sea, brooded on his strange, unhappy memory.
“The sea I remember was much different from the calm one we stand beside now.”
The hawk-like face mirrored a deep anguish. “I think of a storm -- the howling wind and mountainous waves!”
Marie was awed by his manner. She stood on the deserted beach, staring at the millionaire, and suddenly recalled Jean Martin's account of her weird nightmare. Her dear friend had seen an eerie stranger in her dream whom she chose to identify as Asmodeus -- a mocking phantom with seaweed draped from his shoulders.
And, staring now at Asmodeus with terrified eyes, Marie saw the seaweed as Jean had described it